Three years later ...

I read the blog below with cynicism and humor. Twenty-twenty wasn't the year we thought it would be ... nor 2021, nor ultimately, 2022 - with the lingering pandemic and aftermath. 

Well into 2023, we are venturing out again - road trips, short jaunts, and finally: an adventure. 

I'll be posting about our voyage on S/V Freedom: transiting the Panama Canal, to San Blas Islands (Kuna Yala) to San Andreas to Grand Cayman. 'Cannot wait to be on the open ocean again! 

Track us HERE

2020: Bright, bright, bright; bright sunshiny days

A new decade has burst on the scene, with revelers making trendy associations with the Roaring 20’s, 20/20 vision, and even Barbara Walters’ old news program called 20/20. 

What fun! But of course I would think so: I am one of those people who welcomes the New Year and the chance to turn the page, clean the slate, start anew. Yes, you can argue it is just another day, but I love to grant myself this opportunity to both look back and gaze ahead. 

Hindsight, the cliché goes, is 20/20. When we reflect, we experience those ‘Aha’ moments and start to understand how and why things turned out as they did. Or didn’t.

Many think 20/20 means perfect vision, however it actually refers to clarity of vision. And vision at a particular distance (or, you could say, perspective). Making the link to 20/20 even more relevant.

Think of the Johnny Nash song: “I can see clearly now the rain is gone, I can see all obstacles in my way, Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind, It's gonna be a bright, bright, bright; bright sunshiny day.”

The power of New Year’s Day is the power of optimism, of another shot, new goals, adventures, endless opportunities. Grab it, savor it, take advantage of it; milk it for Pete’s sake. ‘Any chance to lift yourself up and have another go at this thing called life.

Roaring 20s

“Let’s Roar Again!” merrymakers chant, eluding to the Roaring 20’s. Yes, a century ago they roared. World War I had ended and the nation hurtled into a ‘freewheeling’ era of plenty and prosperity. At the same time, uncannily, the temperance movement thrust us into 13 years of Prohibition. But that stopped few. Laws and moral standards were tested and defied; the mob mushroomed, speakeasies proliferated, hopped-up fellas danced the Shimmy or Charleston with flappers and molls while they drank bathtub gin. What a dichotomy, those carefree days (and nights) versus the stringency of temperance. And then Wall Street crashed, and the Roaring 20s ended in a whimper.

20/20, indeed, is more clear in reverse. We have no idea what lies ahead, as our forbearers a century ago experienced. Instead we reflect on the past; we learn, we acknowledge, we repent, we move on. And gloriously, we start anew each year, with hope and aspiration.

“Look all around, there's nothing but blue skies. Look straight ahead, there's nothing but blue skies. 
Here is that rainbow I've been praying for. It's gonna be a bright, bright, bright; bright sunshiny day.”

Need some inspiration? Check out these quotes here: Inspiration

Here’s to a rousing, roaring 2020!

Time to "ukubutha izinto sami"

1 Jan 2017

I picked up the new issue of O magazine – with Oprah herself splayed against the grandeur of a cotton candy-hued Grand Canyon, declaring 2017 “the year of your greatest adventures.”

This clearly spoke to me. For years, wanderlust has been my opium, adventure my muse. I have lived nomadically, traveled globally, and made friends around the world.

But my gypsy lifestyle has resulted in a lack of routine and rigor I have found …. unbecoming. Just as my ‘stuff’ is spread all over the planet, I too have spread out a bit. Eep! “The year of your greatest adventures,” I’ve decided, doesn’t jibe with my life right now. I need some time to regroup.

So 2017 will be my year of getting my sh*t together. (I tried to find a cleverer way of saying this: in French it might be, “Bouge mon cul” … “Ukubutha izinto zami” in Zulu … or Maori: “Whiwhi whakaritea toku ora.” Much more civilized.)

A year of getting settled – not as in ‘settling for’ a compromise or consolation – but in allowing some roots to grow. Letting myself get grounded, and comfortable. Gathering and unearthing my stuff, taking treasures of out storage, exhuming paperwork, revisiting finances, getting organized. Taking classes/studies/workouts/whatever it takes, to get back to the foundation of who I am. ‘Including the good habits that will fuel the next 30 years.

And I can only do this thanks to Barry.

I enter 2017 with an unprecedented sense of affection, security, and excitement. Barry is generous in every way, an embracing partner who has offered me the warmth of his love and coziness of his lifestyle. And while the call of the wild has dominated my life for many years, I am looking forward to our lives - and escapades – together. My greatest adventure, indeed.

Cesaria Evora Aeropuerto

Faith

The last week has been a blur – ARC seminars, boat chores, provisioning all day; parties and events every night. It will be good to get back to sea, if only to get more rest and dry out! But it’s been AMAZINGLY FUN with new friends, and new perspectives on old friends. I’m so pleased that twists of fate brought me not to Bermuda for the AC45s, nor to Panama (although I am standing by for more fun with Pamela & Paul there, when the time comes) but instead to Gran Canaria.

A long time ago, a cloud hung over my happy life – being that I could not have children, and seemed stymied in all attempts to start a family any way possible. And then one day: boom! I was a Mom! Unlike most people, who have nine months of ‘dawn’ to prepare for a child, I didn’t. I went from barren, to parenthood. It simply went from dark, to light. Glorious light.

So over the past few years – again, despite a very happy life – things have not been 100% what I’ve desired; and yet I’ve held tight to that hope, and that knowledge, that this was just the night, and that one day the sun would burst over the horizon. I think it has.

We set off today for Sao Vicente, Cabo Verde. I don’t’ expect to be online, but you can track EL GATO at http://www.worldcruising.com/arc/arc/eventfleetviewer.aspx  

Keep us in your prayers for a safe passage please!

xo

a few pix from Gran Canaria